Initial D: Drift Kings Second Stage
by pilot-tenkawa
Summary: The Americans' saga continues! Now with more Initial D characters!
1. ACT 1

**DRIFT KINGS: SECOND STAGE**

**Author's Note:** And it continues! Hopefully this series will turn out a little better, in my opinion, than the first. As always, no flames, but please R&R! Oh, and just a random thought: my OC's are open for use by anyone who cares. Or who doesn't, it's all the same to me. Just lemme know.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN INITIAL D, OR ANY AUTOMOTIVE MAKES/MODELS MENTIONED. BUT I DO OWN MY OC'S.

ACT 1 – FADED AURA

**November 17, 1999; Maebashi, Gunma:**

Drew O'Brien slipped the gear knob into neutral, pulled up the e-brake, and shut off his Toyota Celica XX's straight six engine. Opening the door, he stepped out into the darkness of the Japanese early morning. Suddenly, he jumped onto the hood of his car and pulled the collar of his jacket up over his head, narrowly avoiding a massive spray of black slush sent from a brand new R34 Nissan Skyline.

Drew stood back from his car, shook the melting snow - oil, tire residue and all - from his jacket. He cast a glare back at the Nissan as it swiftly accelerated away from the stoplight that had held it up momentarily.

_Well somebody's doing well for themselves._ He thought, only wishing that he had the money for a new car like that.

_Not that this one's treated me badly, tho'._

He patted the two-tone Toyota lovingly on the hood, then tromped through the snow piled outside the apartment he shared with Kensuke and-

"Danny! Up and out!" Drew called, rapping harshly on the Celica's passenger side window. Inside, the thin, blond man stirred, stretched, and slowly opened the door –

Only to be nailed squarely in the face by a chunk of - clean this time – snow thrown by his older brother. Drew hefted another snowball, "Coming?"

Danny O'Brien spluttered, "Was that REALLY necessary?!"

"Was it REALLY necessary for you to fall asleep in my car instead of waiting for Kensuke like I told you?"

Danny shrugged, "It's not like I-"

"Whatever. Just forget it and let's get inside before we freeze."

Danny brushed the remaining fluff from his neck and started inside. Drew looked back once more at his car and smiled. It may be old, but it sure still looked good. He was enamored enough with the Toyota, though, that he failed to really notice the fast approaching set of headlights.

This time, he was less lucky. As he turned toward the oncoming car, his legs and lower body were caught full on by the spray of snow from the street as a deep blue Celica GT-Four spun with the e-brake into position in front of Drew's Celica.

Drew stood in shock as Kensuke stepped out of the newly arrived car. Kensuke chuckled upon seeing Drew's condition, "My bad."

Drew blinked a few times, "Is this a four-wheel drive thing?"

"Heh-heh, yeah, sorry 'bout that."

"Uh-huh. That's it – you, me, Akina: NOW."

"You're challenging me over some _dirty water_?"

"Yes."

Kensuke grinned, "Alright, just so we're clear."

Twenty minutes later, three cars were parked behind the guardrail beneath the water tower at the top of Mount Akina. Danny's Z32 Fairlady was parked perpendicularly to the road, the glare from its headlights on the snow forming a makeshift starting line.

Kensuke's 1992 Celica GT-Four pulled alongside Drew's older model XX, its four cylinder, turbocharged 3SGTE revving loudly; a contrast to the low purr from Drew's 6 cylinder 1G-GTEU; with both engines occasionally punctuated by snap-hisses from turbo blow-off valves.

Danny punched his Nissan's horn, the sudden beep announcing the start of the race. Kensuke's four-wheel drive Celica gained an early lead as Drew's rear-wheel drive bogged down slightly in the not entirely cleared away snow. Drew kept the accelerator floored going into the first sweeping left hand corner and then through the following gentle right.

Both cars came on hard into the first real corner of the touge: a sharp right. The drivers' abilities having been hardened by nearly 3 years on the mountains, each had his own plan for victory. Drew flitted his feet over the pedals, heel and toe downshifting and sending the heavy Mk. II Celica into a high speed drift, using the cars weight to keep it centered through the corner.

Kensuke meanwhile gave a quick tug of the e-brake and let the Celica's rally derived four-wheel drive system sort out keeping the car under control in the thin snow.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

_4:03. No, wait, 4:04!_ Danny watched the numbers tick by on his Nissan's clock. Suddenly, the sound of well tuned engines brought his attention up from his dash.

_It's WAAAY to early for it be Drew back again…nobody's that fast down and back…_

Danny could barely follow as two cars flashed by his windshield. He started to reach for the ignition, but then decided there was no point in trying to catch them now. Maybe Drew and Kensuke would tell him what that was.

………………………………………………………………………………………………**..**

Drew, still in second position, smiled as the sign warning of the upcoming corners flew by. But just as he began to set up for the first, there was a flash of headlights in his rear view mirror.

_Who else could be up here at this time of night? Takumi said he had taken the Impreza to Tokyo and none of the other locals run at this hour…_

Drew flipped the switch for his emergency lights, and he and Kensuke pulled over onto the outside shoulder.

"What'd you st-"

Kensuke's inquiry was cut off as two cars came around the left hand bend uphill from the two Toyotas.

It was then that they first caught a glimpse of the oncoming rivals. Leading was a white R33 Skyline, trailing: a small black and white hatchback.

"Go, Go, GO!" Drew yelled, dumping the clutch and tearing off in hot pursuit of the two as Kensuke scrambled to get back into his car.

Going into the first of Akina's hairpins, the mystery Nissan lead, the two-tone hatch second, and Drew's Celica trailing. The Celica and Nissan flashed their brake lights, casting an eerie red onto the dirty snow. The middle car, though, didn't slow at all, passed the Nissan, and then was gone around the next corner; a small trail of gray smoke from under the window visor being the only evidence that it had ever been there at all.

In a desperate attempt to catch up, the Nissan pushed too hard into the next corner and went into a flat spin, stopping just short of the guard rail, Drew stopping just short of the Nissan, and a rapidly gaining Kensuke stopping just short of the other Celica.

A tall man with dark brown hair stepped slowly from the Skyline. Upon seeing the driver, Drew jumped from the Celica and ran over.

"Andrew!"

The man turned, "Drew?! Hey! How's it been in Gunma, man!?"

"Slow, since Project D finished. How've you been? And more importantly, where?"

"Maybe we should head downhill to the car park to discuss this."

Several minutes later, the three remaining members of a former team called Aura gathered with another of their own.

"After I left our team, I was actually able to hook up with that guy Grant raced that time in Saitama. Anyway, he got me set up running Osaka Kanjou where he used to. So I wandered the highways for a while, spent a few weeks racing Wangan in Tokyo even. That was where I got this R33 Gts25. I nearly crashed it racing an old Fairlady Z, 

scariest thing I ever did, too. Anyway, I narrowly miss a crash at 120 MPH only to get my S14 impounded a week later."

Drew winced, "Man, that's unfortunate."

"Yeah, well, it's not that bad. I always wanted a Skyline back in the States, so…"

"So," Danny said, "What brings you back to Gunma?"

Andrew smirked, "Takahashi Keisuke."

**24 HOURS LATER: Akina touge, 4:05 A.M.**

Takumi Fujiwara idly brought the wheel of his father's Impreza Type R back in line. The four-wheel drive Subaru just made driving in the snow so easy. So boring. But that wasn't what was really bothering him. No, that old man had been using the eight-six while Takumi was gone again. And not just using it for deliveries, either.

_And these kids these days call themselves racers. I don't even have to put out my cigarette anymore._

Takumi shook his head, trying to will away the "when I was a racer" talk from Bunta. The old man needed to hurry up and settle down like _normal _46 year-old men. Then again, Bunta Fujiwara was no normal 46 year-old man…there was no figuring him out, Takumi thought.

Now that D was finished, there really wasn't much left for Takumi to do these days. Keisuke had gone pro a few months after D's final battle.

_He never was able to beat me like he promised, though._ Takumi thought, smiling at the thought of his ultimate race against his best rival.

**APRIL 8, 1998: AKINA, 11:15 P.M.:**

Takumi's hands worked the tall shifter down into third and spun the wheel hard right, countering the centrifugal forces generated by the unbelievably high speed drift. The lights of Keisuke Takahashi's FD blazed in his rear-view mirror.

_Almost as bright as that paint._

Not that the Efini RX-7 was anything to laugh at these days. Project D's work had essentially turned it into a road-going touring car. With the new RE Amemiya widebody kit keeping it firmly planted on the tarmac, there were few vehicles capable of keeping pace with the Mazda.

_But this is one of them._

Takumi smiled as he rounded a sharp right, then blitzed the short straight that lead into the following hairpin left. While he greatly appreciated all of Matsumoto's help over the past year, there was really only one man capable of tuning a car for Akina.

Which was why Takumi had spent months tuning every bit of his beloved Trueno himself. He knew it was probably silly, but he wanted to know that he had truly beaten Keisuke on his own merits, not because of his father's tuning. In fact, had Keisuke not insisted that this be a near re-creation of their first match, Takumi would not have allowed the race to be held here.

But it was here.

Takumi slid the car gracefully through the sweeping left, dipping his front left wheel briefly into gutter as the corner tightened. This caused the FD to loose a scant few meters behind him, but it was quickly regained as the more powerful rotary gunned it through the following gentle bends.

Stepping hard on the brakes, Takumi turned hard to the right, again dropping his wheels into the gutter to take the corner at and incredible speed. Behind him, Keisuke kept pace, using his more powerful engine and careful pedal work to stay on the _hachi roku_'s rear bumper.

In the FD, Keisuke worked to quickly develop a good strategy.

_I can take him on the straight here, but he'll just pass me on the hairpins using the gutter. I can't use the gutter 'cause I'll bottom out. If I block the inside, he'll drift the outside...but if I wait…there won't be a good chance to pass beyond the hairpins…it's now or never! I will NOT lose again!_

Keisuke feinted left, then right, then back left, slipping alongside the smaller Toyota. He took the inside around the next easy left and slowly edged ahead of the AE86. The spun the Momo steering wheel left, his wide tires and the downforce from the front and rear diffusers keeping the FD will seated on Keisuke's racing line through the sharp left corner.

He widened his lead slightly as he powered through the corners leading up to Akina's famous hairpins. Coming into the first hairpin, Keisuke feinted toward the inside, trying to throw Takumi off his line for the gutters, then returned to his own line, gripping through the center of the sharp right.

His attempt, however, failed to throw off the racing sense of the 20 year-old chasing him. Takumi's AE86 passed him easily on the inside as he used the gutter run that had defeated so many before, including Keisuke himself.

Keisuke swore as the pop-up headlights pushed past the end of his car. He fully expected to lose sight of the AE86 as it used the gutter again around the next corner…but it didn't. Instead, his line was one Keisuke had never seen used on Akina before.

_That can't be right…_

Keisuke followed the hatchback around the corner, then the next, and the next. Each time, Takumi's line was…unusual. This was unlike anything Keisuke had ever had to face before…but all too similar an experience for Takumi.

Ryousuke Takahashi leaned against the guard rail, waiting for his brother to appear. For once, he truly didn't know what to expect when the cars rounded the corner before him. He had analyzed the abilities of his aces more times than he could count, but there never seemed to be a definitive answer.

_THERE!_

Keisuke floored the accelerator, his left side wheels bouncing over the gutter onto the small flat area alongside the road. For the second time on this fifth run down Akina, Keisuke passed the two-tone hatchback as its strange line took it too wide through a corner.

Inside the Toyota, Takumi smiled.

Ryousuke looked up quickly as he heard the overlapping screams from his brother's rotary and Takumi's TRD touring car engine. Suddenly, bright LEDs shone around the bushes as Keisuke's FD3S rounded the corner. Ryousuke smiled when he failed to see the AE86 appear.

Takumi set up for his alternate line, knowing Akina well enough even without the headlights on to find his perfect entry line. He made a mental note of the white FC parked beside the road.

_Ryousuke-san…are you seeing this?_

Ryousuke's eyes widened as Takumi took a bizarre line through the right hander, passing Keisuke quickly on the inside, not half a meter from Ryousuke's position on the guardrail. Ryousuke allowed himself a grim smile as the Trueno's lights reappeared in front of him.

_Takumi, you never fail to surprise._

Keisuke gave the guardrail a swift kick. He had lost to that eight-six for the third time. He looked up as his brother came over to him.

"Aniki, I…I really thought I had him this time."

"It's alright, Keisuke. Remember, you still managed to go five rounds on his home course."

Keisuke nodded, "I know, I know. I just don't understand it."

"Keisuke, had Takumi been driving…erratically in the final section of the course?"

Keisuke nodded again.

Ryousuke sighed resignedly, "This time, Takumi managed to pull something even I had never anticipated. I had thought he would try the blind attack, but I never would have guessed he would combine it with Joushima Toshiya's shifting line…"

……………………………………………………………………………………………**.**

Takumi pulled the _hachi-roku _into its usual position beside his father's Impreza.

"Did you win?" a gruff voice called from the door way.

Takumi turned to see his father leaning again the door, smoking. He nodded.

"Good," with that, the older man turned and went back into the building.

**THE PRESENT:**

Takumi shook his head. No, there was no figuring out that old man.

**END**

**NEXT TIME ON INITIAL D: DRIFT KINGS SECOND STAGE – **

**The newly re-united members of team AURA set out to rebuild their numbers as a new threat looms for the Gunma touge drivers.**


	2. ACT 2

**DRIFT KINGS: SECOND STAGE**

**A/N:**** The continuation continues! Sorry things slowed down a bit there, my AE86 needed some work. A lot, in fact. And it's still not quite done… Anyway, enjoy! Oh, and also, there's an extra stage ficlet in the works for sometime soon. Probably a one or two-shot or so. Thanks for reading!**

**DISCLAIMER: SAME AS CHAPTER 1**

ACT 2:

"Takahashi Keisuke?"

Andrew nodded, "That's right. Apparently he's decided to do something like Ryousuke did with Project D, only on a professional level. So he's out with the FD on Akagi every night looking for promising drivers."

"Wow," Drew said, shaking his head, "Never underestimate the Takahashis…"

"Yeah, well, I doubt I'll be up to the level he's looking for, but I'd hate myself forever if I knew I didn't even try."

Danny leaned forward from his Fairlady's hood, "Wait a minute, if you're here for Keisuke's team, and he's running on Akagi, why were you racing on Akina?"

"I've got a friend who lived in the U.S. for a little while, owns a hotel on the northern edge of Mount Akina. I was headed that way when this guy shows up in the mirror, and, no pun intended, it was all downhill from there."

…………………………………………………………………………………………

THE NEXT EVENING, MT. AKINA, 10:47 PM:

Takeuchi Itsuki popped the shift knob down into third and the new short-shifter responded beautifully, spiking the engine to 5500 RPM. He let of the gas and the tachometer dropped, accompanied by that oh-so-wonderful sound of his turbo blow-off valve

Turning the wheel hard to the right, he held the little AE85 on a tight line through one of Akina's many sharp corners. In his mirror, he could see the bright lights from Iketani's S13 and, farther back, Kenji's 180SX. They almost had trouble keeping up with him these days. Almost. But it didn't really matter, right now there was only the joy of driving his awesome little car on one of the greatest roads on Earth.

Suddenly, though, the Speedstars were not alone on the mountain.

_One, two of them._ Itsuki thought as the newcomers barreled down on the mountain home-team.

_Alright then, let's get serious._

He floored the accelerator, feeling the extra torque kick in as the turbo reached its peak. Then, the first of the new drivers was past Kenji. Was past Iketani. And as Itsuki rounded the next corner, it slid by him on the outside.

_T-t-that's…_

As the white coupe accelerated past him, his headlights illuminated the decals on the trunk lid: Toyota Sprinter Trueno.

_It's an eight-six!_

Itsuki watched in horror as the other car also pushed past him.

_A Trueno coupe, a Levin hatch… all AE86's!_

Entering the next corner, the cars spun into a perfect tandem drift as Itsuki watched, stunned beyond words.

Not sure he still had the composure to drive back, he pulled off to the side of the road and shut off the AE85's engine, relishing the silence.

_There's no way that just happened…_

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

12:55 AM, Akagi:

_Keisuke-san may be gone now, but as long as I'm here, the Red Suns will live on!_

Nakamura Kenta pressed harder on the gas as his S14 headed down Akagi's longest straight section, immediately before the final hairpins. The gentle rain wet the road slightly, but that was no problem…though it did conjure some irritating memories of Truenos.

Kenta noticed a flash of light behind him. He checked his mirror, but it was gone. Then it re-appeared.

_Fixed headlights…no Truenos this time,_ Kenta thought, laughing a little to himself.

_Must be one of the other guys coming down from the summit._

Only the other car never slowed or backed off. Kenta arched an eyebrow and stepped up his pace a bit. The car stayed with him. He started taking the gentle bends more aggressively. The trailing car never lost ground. As they headed into the first of Akagi's hairpins, a long right, Kenta floored it, the wet road allowing even his relatively under-powered car to go into a fast drift.

The other car simply drove past him.

As it pulled ahead, Kenta gaped in horror. It was a black and red Levin hatchback. The car pulled away, heading into the second hairpin; a supercharger whining loudly over the engines and the background noise of rain.

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

1:23 AM, Irohazaka:

Kogashiwa Kai still liked driving Iro. Even though he no longer really raced that much, a good downhill run was always fun. He stepped on the clutch and pulled the e-brake, sending his MR-S into a nearly 180 degree spin. The SW20 had been a great car, but this was really something else. The engine spun up to 8400 RPM and Kai upshifted into second, then rapidly down into 1st again as he slid the mid-engined car around one of the numerous switchbacks.

Suddenly another car rounded the corner behind him, coming quickly down the mountain.

_Did Sudou finally finish being ashamed?_

As the MR-S entered the first of four certain hairpins, Kai stepped on the clutch and brake and pulled hard on the hand brake. The braking shifted the car's weight forward, making the e-brake turn even more violent, spinning the car a full 180 degrees and skidding it over the edge of the embankment.

Kai lost sight of the car behind him as he jumped the inside of the corner, but as he accelerated into the next, it re-appeared; now closer than ever.

Kai swore as he flung the little Toyota sideways into the next corner even more aggressively but the other car remained close behind him, losing a scant few meters.

The final two corners later, Kai was out of jumps and the other car would not be shaken. As Kai drifted around the tight left-hander, the car pulled closer, then came alongside and pulled past down the brief straight. Kai noticed the emblems under the oversized lip spoiler: Toyota Corolla Levin SR.

_SR!? There's no way that's an eight-five!_

As the white Levin coupe feinted left, then drifted around a right corner, several bursts of flame came from the exhaust, accompanied by a staccato banging sound.

Kai's eyes widened in shock. There was only one car he had heard that from before, and never an _eight-five_!

Inside said Levin, Misaki Yuu, leader of team Hachi Shokku, smiled. Maybe these racers weren't going to be as much trouble as he thought.

_Too bad Project D isn't around anymore. That'd be a fun one. Oh well. I wonder how the rest of the team's doing in Gunma and Saitama…_

Yuu floored the accelerator, his Group B rally spec 4T-GTE's 500 horsepower easily kicking out the rear of the light coupe and power-sliding around the next corner. Behind him, the lights of the trailing MR-S gradually faded into the darkness of the Nikko night.

ACT 2: END

NEXT TIME: Team Hachi Shokku continues its conquest of Gunma, but runs into a few snags. Don't miss it!

**Closing comments**: Sorry this is a lot shorter than normal, I just had to keep myself going and do SOMETHING, what with school, and the car, and all. BTW, Hachi Shokku, it's as in "Hachi Shock", only with the Japanese 

pronunciation, it can kind of be a pun on Hachi Roku. Just so that's clear. Oh, and also, I'm debating having Ryousuke come out of retirement for one run, but I'm really not sure. Any opinions greatly appreciated. Anyway, R&R, thanks for reading!!


	3. ACT 3

**DRIFT KINGS: SECOND STAGE**

**A/N: I'm back! Now that it's Christmas break, I actually have time again, so I figured I better write some more. So, while I'm still inspired by my M.O.V.E albums, let's do this thing! **

**P.S. Just so no one gets accidentally left out on a slightly crucial detail, Fumihiro drives an SW20 MR2.**

**DISCLAIMER: Same as always; I own nothing but my OC's**

ACT 3; Lake Akina, 9:15 AM:

Misaki Yuu pulled the tall shifter down into neutral, pulled back the handbrake, and turned the key. The engine slowed from a roar and burbled into silence as Yuu undid his Takata four-point harness and slid out of the TRD bucket seat. He patted his AE85 lovingly on the roof. There was nothing like a good sleeper car, and this had to be the best Yuu had ever owned.

"Oi! Yuu-cha~n!"

Yuu flinched slightly at the diminutive suffix, then forced a smile and turned around. In the parking spaces adjacent to his white Levin coupe, the rest of his team's elite scouting group had arrived. Yuu's best three and himself had gone ahead of the rest of Team Hachi-Shokku to see if Gunma and the surrounding prefectures were worth their interest.

"So," Yuu said to the person who had called to him, "Find anything interesting?"

Riyosaki Miki leaned back against her red and black "panda" Levin, but before she could answer, Hiroshi Ketsure, Yuu's number-two man, entered the conversation.

"Miyu-chan and I passed a few here on Akina, a couple S-chassis Nissans and AE85 Levin; nothing all that impressive."

Miki pushed past Hiroshi, "_Mou,_Hiro-kun, Yuu-chan wasn't talking to you."

"My bad," Hiroshi said. He turned back to Yuu, "You were saying, _Yuu-chan_?"

Yuu shook his head at the other young man's jab, "Right, Miki, you find anything on Akagi?"

Miki shrugged, "Not really, a guy in an S14, and a random SW20 that didn't even try to race me."

"No sign of RX-7s?"

Miki smiled, somewhat evily, Yuu thought, "_Takahashi-san wo sagashiteimasu ka?_ "

_Yes, _Yuu thought, _I am looking for them, _"Maybe. Did you see anything?"

The younger girl shook her head, "No, nothing."

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

A garage in Akagi (Sorry, Risa-chan, not that one just yet):

Matsumoto lowered the lift as Takahashi Ryousuke looked on. Since the end of Project D, Ryousuke had assumed he'd be able to move beyond street racing. He'd assumed wrong. A rather frantic call from the normally very collected Fumihiro had confirmed what Ryousuke had only heard rumors of: a team of AE86s that was slowly moving its way up Honshu, leaving nothing but broken teams in its wake.

_Much as we had tried to do,_ Ryousuke thought, _until we ran into an AE86…_

The first he had heard of this was from some contacts he had picked up in Hakone. The NSX-driving team Sidewinder had recently been beaten by several people, supposedly driving nothing but AE86s. Recently, many other teams had followed in their wake, including Seven Star Leaf and the increasingly weak Northern Saitama Alliance. Purple Shadow had apparently re-appeared again to defend their mountain and had fought the team to a standstill, but that was a rather hollow victory to Ryousuke.

_And with Keisuke so involved in his professional career, he can't risk losing it on a street race. Which leaves it to me and…_

The sound of an engine and glare of lights on the garage door outside made Ryousuke and Matsumoto look up.

Matsumoto hit the button to open the heavy sliding door. As it rose, a pair of headlights came into view, framing a jet black carbon fiber hood. Behind the wheel sat a young man with dark brown hair lying long over his eyes. Matsumoto motioned the car forward and the sound of the race-bred Toyota engine echoed through the mostly empty shop.

Ryousuke smiled as the young man exited the car, "Takumi, I'm glad you could make it."

Fujiwara Takumi nodded, "Sure, it's no problem. What'd you want, Ryousuke-san?"

Ryousuke suddenly grew very serious, "Takumi, you may have heard about an all-AE86 team that has been moving through Kanto recently."

Takumi's eyes widened as all the pieces suddenly fell together in his mind. No wonder Itsuki had been more spastic than usual recently.

"My contacts believe that they'll move against Gunma in earnest within the next two or three days. Takumi…I want them to stop here. That's why I've called you here. As an AE86 driver yourself, you know all the strengths, as well as weaknesses of their vehicles. Also, I doubt they've had the privilege of going up against another AE86 driver as skilled as you are."

Takumi nodded, this all made sense to his developing strategic abilities.

"Keisuke won't be able to drive, due the risk of him being seen and removed from any pro events; therefore stopping this team falls to us."

Takumi was rather shocked by that, "Us? Two of us versus a full team?"

"No, I've been able to pull in a few favors. However, we'll have to bear the brunt of it. So, what do you say? Feel like getting back into racing?"

"Of course. Ever since D ended, I haven't really been sure of what to do with myself. It'll be nice to be able to forget everything and just drive again. What should I do?"

Ryousuke smiled, "Practice. I'll be in contact and let you know when they move. That's when we stop them."

Takumi nodded, "Alright, I'm in. _Anou,_ is that all there was, Ryousuke –san?"

"I think so, why?"

"I need to meet Mika-san in about an hour."

A few minutes later, with Takumi off to meet the golfer, Ryousuke and Matsumoto returned to the car on the lift. The harsh lights of the shop reflected brightly off the sleek white paint.

"Keisuke's FD was one thing," Matsumoto said, "but I never imagined I'd be doing this."

Before them on the lift sat Ryousuke's FC, and, in several large cardboard boxes along the rear wall of the shop, a massive, and massively expensive, series of parts to turn it into a full-fledged racing machine.

Yes, if Ryousuke was going to defend Gunma, he was going to do it right.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The next morning, downtown Shibukawa:

Drew O'Brien slowly rolled off his small mattress onto the floor, slapping madly at the alarm that dared to try to wake him up.

_I wonder if there's some sort of medical condition of permanent jet lag,_ he thought as he drug himself down the stairs to the tiny room the Japanese had the sheer audacity to call a kitchen. There he found Danny already awake, gnawing idly on an increasingly small piece of bread as he thumbed through the day's newspaper.

"The ol' _shinbun_ have anything good today?"

The younger O'Brien shook his head, "Not really. Or maybe. I can't read the kanji very well. I just like looking at the pictures."

Drew shook his head, "Spoken like a true multiculturalist. So what's on the agenda today?"

"Well, Andrew says he knows where Grant went after he left the team, so I thought we might go catch up with him."

"Sounds good," Drew agreed.

Suddenly, the two of them heard the sound of tuned engines outside. Danny peeked out the window.

"Oh, hey, that's Andrew and Kensuke now."

Drew sighed, "Does _everyone_ start early in this freaking country?"

Twenty minutes later, with Drew having hurried through a shower and eaten a little of whatever was in the refrigerator, his Celica XX was following Kensuke's Celica GT-Four and Andrew's R33 Skyline GT-S out of town.

A few hours later, Drew began to recognize the changing scenery. He picked up his one of the small walkie-talkies the 3 cars had decided to carry.

"Hey, Andrew, no one ever told me Grant was in Irohazaka now."

It took a second for the reply, as the cars turned a corner and Andrew was forced to downshift, "Yep. I came here about five months ago and he was here."

"Still the Supra?"

"I don't know, but you can ask him soon. He's got a little parts shop on the outskirts of town here at the summit."

Before long, the three car convoy arrived at a small two-story building. A sign above the door read, "Parts: Japanese and European."

Andrew pulled into a space in the small parking lot and Drew and Kensuke pulled up alongside him. As they got out of their cars, Andrew gestured back toward the door, and the four men headed that way.

A quiet chime sounded as they entered the pristine showroom. Mufflers, aero bumpers, and wheels hung on the walls and the floors were covered in seats on display.

"_Irasshaimase,"_ a voice called. The four of them turned to the petite Japanese woman behind the register.

"_Konnichi wa,_" Andrew said, "is Grant around back?"

She nodded, "Yes, out in the garage."

Andrew gave her a short bow and motioned for Drew and the others to follow him. They walked around the side of the building. Attached to the rear was a four-stall garage. Andrew walked up to a metal door in the side and pressed a button. They could hear the muted sound of a buzzer inside the garage and, in a few seconds, Grant opened the door without looking up from where he was wiping his hands on his coveralls.

"_Ne,_ Yumi-chan, I'm a bit busy right n-"

He cut himself short as he looked up, "Guys! Wow, it's great to see you! Come on, come on."

He waved them into the garage, cautioning them regarding the many wheels and random parts scattered about.

"So," he said, turning to the group, "what brings you all out here?"

Drew smiled, "We were actually thinking about getting the team back together."

"Really? Why? I thought racing in Gunma had kind of died off."

"Yeah, but haven't you heard about Takahashi Keisuke?"

"What, the whole thing of him forming a pro team? Of course, I've heard."

"And you're seriously not interested? Not even a little?"

Grant shrugged, "Of course I'm interested, but what can I do. I do have a business to worry about now."

Danny grinned at him, "Yeah, speaking of that, who's the babe out front?"

Grant returned his smile, though much less lecherously, "My girlfriend Yumiko. Get near her and I beat you halfway to death with this…" Grant looked down at the work table beside him, "stack of Best Motoring DVDs."

Danny backed away, hands raised in surrender, "Okay, okay, don't want you t-"

"Moving on," Drew injected, "So, do you still have the Supra?"

Grant smiled proudly, "You bet. She's my demo car, though, so I don't drive her much anymore. Just the occasional grassroots touring car or drift series. No, I've got something new to drive now. Cost me quite a bit, but it was worth it. Come on, I'll show you."

The small group followed Grant back outside and around the large garage to another two-bay garage.

"The big garage is for shop customers," he explained, "This one has Yumi's Chaser on the left, and on the right…"

Grant pulled a key ring from his pocket and slid one into a small slot near the bottom of the door. As he turned it, the door rose; so did the eyebrows of all those assembled. Grant removed the key and stood back.

"I see you like it," he said, smiling.

Inside, in its natural deep blue, sat a 1994 Ford Escort RS Cosworth.

"One of the benefits of owning a business is being able to afford the nearly $35,000 I paid getting her here from England, but it was worth every penny."

"No kidding," was all Drew managed to get out.

Meanwhile, several hours away from that small shop in Nikko, another beast of a machine was being unveiled. Takahashi Ryousuke felt that old thrill returning as the turned the key and started the FC's Wankel rotary engine. He tapped the gas several times, spiking the new tachometer to almost 11,000 RPM. He watched the new RE Amemiya gauges as the boost rose and fell in synch with the revs. He pushed the shifter into first, feeling the sharp click of the new C's short shift kit.

The FC tore out of the shop bay and sped off to the top of Mount Akagi, hidden in fog several miles away.

Minutes later, Ryousuke was speeding down Akagi faster than even he had expected. The RE Amemiya Super G wide body kit, the massive Amemiya GT-Wing at the back, and the carbon fiber diffuser underneath created un-earthly amounts of grip, even with all his new power and on the downhill.

_Yes,_ Ryousuke thought,_ I have indeed been gone far too long._

**END**

**NEXT TIME: RYOUSUKE'S "NEW PROJECT D" OF SORTS PREPARES FOR THE AE86 INVASION AS DREW AND THE OTHERS ATTEMPT TO REJOIN GRANT TO THEIR RANKS. DON'T MISS IT!**


End file.
